Photos by Cathie Rowand/The Journal Gazette Jim Adams, president of Secure Hold Storage, stands at the Lower Huntington Road site of a future self-storage facility.

Secure Hold Storage’s automated kiosk lets customers use a touch screen to rent their self-storage units.

Machines already handle some of consumers’ most private transactions, including depositing checks. Secure Hold Storage is betting the same concept can work at two self-storage facilities it is constructing in northeast Indiana.

Consumers will be able to rent storage units and buy padlocks without ever speaking to a person at the facilities that Secure Hold Storage is building in Fort Wayne and Auburn. Customers will conduct all of their business at a kiosk similar to an automated teller machine.

The idea of a self-service storage facility is new to northeast Indiana, but it is growing in popularity across the country, according to a kiosk manufacturer. The kiosks offer convenience for customers and reduce the costs of operating small storage facilities, but some competitors question whether they provide adequate security and customer service.

Indianapolis-based Secure Hold Storage plans to open self-storage buildings with the technology on Lower Huntington Road and in Auburn this year. Company President Jim Adams declined to disclose the exact cost of the two projects but said it will exceed $2 million.

The buildings – each a little larger than 26,000 square feet – aren’t big enough to justify hiring a full-time attendant, Adams said. The kiosks keep staffing costs low and offer service around the clock.

The kiosks work the same way ATMs do, Adams said. Customers use touch screens to select the size of the unit they wish to rent. The machine offers suggestions to help customers determine how much space they need. Customers can speak to a call center representative by touching a button.

“This is kind of a new concept in storage,” Adams said.

Companies across the country are buying kiosks to supplement their staffs or to run unmanned storage facilities, said Curtis Sojka, vice president of marketing for Open Tech Alliance Inc., a Phoenix-based manufacturer of the machines. The nearly four-year-old company sold 10 machines during its first year in business. The $17,000 kiosks are now selling at a rate of 15 a month, and 110 are in operation nationwide, Sojka said. About a quarter of those are at unmanned facilities, he said.

Using a kiosk can increase a storage facility’s sales, Sojka said. Customers are able to rent storage units early on Saturday mornings or at other times when a staffed storage facility would not be open. A kiosk can capture this business, he said.

Competitors admit being able to operate around the clock will give businesses using the kiosks an advantage. But Keith Lopshire, manager of Coliseum Self Storage, questions whether an unmanned storage facility will keep clients’ property safe. Because Lopshire lives at the storage facility, he can keep an eye on the storage units at all hours. Security cameras are not as effective in deterring would-be burglars, he said.

“It may help after the fact, but during the fact, it’s not going to help too much,” he said.

Secure Hold Storage will have security cameras and keep the tapes on file for a month at its home office, Adams said. The company plans to work with police who regularly patrol the area to ensure the site is secure. Secure Hold Storage also plans to hire a local property manager to check on the site.

The kiosks themselves record a lot of information about a renter for security reasons, Sojka said. The machines scan customers’ identification and credit cards. The kiosks also photograph customers and take their fingerprints.

Even if it is secure, an unmanned facility cannot offer the same level of customer service as a staffed storage company, said Matthew Kindness, property manager of Fort Security Self Storage. He can match a competitor’s price if a customer has been offered a better deal at another storage facility. A kiosk offers less flexibility and warmth, he said.

“I hate talking to ATMs and machines,” Kindness said. “I want to have a person.”

Both Kindness and Lopshire said they were unaware of any storage facilities in Fort Wayne using the self-service kiosks.

Thirteen of Open Tech Alliance’s kiosks are operating in Indiana, Sojka said. The closest one listed on the company’s Web site is in Plymouth, 64 miles west of Fort Wayne.

The Fort Wayne and Auburn locations will be Secure Hold Storage’s first facilities. The 6-month-old company hopes to use the technology to grow to 50 storage facilities in six years, Adams said. The company, which employs three, is negotiating to buy a facility in Lafayette. The firm wants to centralize its business as much as possible to hold down costs, and the kiosks make that possible, he said.

Open Tech Alliance expects the self-service kiosk business to continue growing as storage companies realize they can lower their costs with the machines, Sojka said.

“It’s definitely the wave of the future,” he said.

jglenn@jg.net